hp-align

hp-align [inputfile]

inputfile
    The assembler file (usually .s extension) generated by hp-gcc to be aligned.

The `hp-align` command is a preprocessor specifically designed to improve the readability and maintainability of assembler code generated by the hp-gcc compiler, typically for HP architecture systems (HP-PA).
It primarily focuses on aligning code sections and data structures to enhance code clarity and potentially improve performance by ensuring memory access alignment. The command analyzes the assembler code and inserts directives to enforce proper alignment for functions, loops, and data objects. It's not a general-purpose alignment tool; it works by injecting hp-gcc assembler directives.
This alignment can improve cache performance on some HP-PA architectures.
The generated assembler code is designed to be readily assembled, linked, and executed after alignment with hp-align.

This command is specific to HP-PA architectures and hp-gcc. It is not generally applicable to other architectures or compilers.

Proper alignment can reduce memory access penalties. Misaligned memory accesses can lead to performance degradation, especially on architectures like HP-PA.

The command is typically used in a build process.
For example:
hp-gcc -S -o input.s input.c
hp-align input.s
as input.s -o input.o

The `hp-align` command was developed to address the specific alignment needs of code generated by the hp-gcc compiler for HP-PA systems. The purpose was to improve assembler code readability and potentially enhance performance on HP-PA architectures by ensuring proper memory alignment. It likely emerged when hp-gcc and PA-RISC systems were prevalent.

as(1), ld(1), gcc(1)